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What's New > Record $12.75 Million Settlement in Nations’ Largest Urban Lead Poisoning Case: Partner Leslie Kelmachter Represented 19 Family Members in a Three-month Trial

For the past three-months, the Kings County Supreme Court was transformed into a legal battlefield, as Fuchsberg Partner Leslie Kelmachter argued the many complex legal issues and presented evidence of the neglect by the City of New York, Brooklyn Arms owner Bertram Fields and Management Company, Merco Properties that caused 19 family members to be poisoned by lead paint in the walls and ceilings of the residences where the family lived from 1981 and 1995. Experts called the lawsuit the “nation’s largest lead paint poisoning case.”

The day before closing arguments, members of the plaintiff family agreed to a $12.75 million settlement; $8.25 to be paid by the City of New York. The family had waited more than a decade for their day in court. Fortunately, no poison could quash the indomitable spirit of this family and their pleasure with the settlement.

The effects of their lead paint exposure include brain injuries, limited attention span and other cognitive problems. The $12.75 million settlement is the largest amount ever paid by New York City or State in a lead-paint poisoning case.

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